The Maidstone Studios

CLUBCLASS PRESENTS BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend – The Official Aftershow Broadcast live on BBC Radio 1 Saturday 10th May 2008 Studio 5, Maidstone TV Studios, Maidstone.

August 2007 – Studio 5 houses the welcome of Basil Brush.

April 2007 – Respected TV producer Helen Kristic has been appointed Studio Resources manager for The Maidstone Studios.

26th January 2007 – The Maidstone Studios to Host Prime-Time Lottery Show.

18th January 2007 – Supermarket Sweep Remake At The Maidstone Studios.

28th September 2006 –
Ecosse Films chooses The Maidstone Studios for a new Channel 4 Drama. The Maidstone Studios expands as a media hub.

10th July 2006 – The Maidstone Studios Signs Two-Year Deal for Chat Show. New home for ‘Trisha’.

May 2006 – Basil Brushes-up at The Maidstone Studios – New series currently in production.

27th March 2006 – The Maidstone Studios Mind ‘The Mint’. New Game Show to mark the launch of ITV Play.

TV Studio News

May 2006 – Basil Brushes up at The Maidstone TV Studios

Thirteen new episodes of ‘The Basil Brush Show’ are currently being shot in one of the largest studio floors in the UK at The Maidstone TV Studios.

The award-winning ‘The Basil Brush Show’ is Britain ’s number-one rated children’s sitcom and appears on the BBC. In his latest incarnation, Basil’s Den is Maidstone TV Studios new, fully operational 12,000 square foot Studio 5.

Kenton Oxley, General Manager, Maidstone TV Studios, said: “We’re delighted to host in our new studio the return of one of the greatest television shows ever. The Basil Brush Show appeals to adults as well as children and a whole new generation will be able to enjoy Basil’s humour.”

Maidstone’s Studio 5 has been further enhanced with the help of a new production solution to studio “hang-ups” from TOMCAT UK , a division of TOMCAT Global, the world’s leading provider of fabricated aluminium structural components for the entertainment and leisure industries.

The TOMCAT system means that Maidstone can rapidly reconfigure Studio 5 to accommodate and cater for virtually unlimited number of production requirements, which is often something that takes an unacceptable amount of time and money to achieve in a traditional studio environment.

Oxley added: “At a time when many in our industry are making redundancies and closing studios, we have elected to buck the trend by investing in the future, both for Maidstone and our clients. The system from TOMCAT means that not only are we ready for Basil, but we can quickly provide an economical studio configuration solution for anyone who comes through our doors.”

The new episodes being shot at The Maidstone TV Studios will be shown on the BBC and CBBC channels in the autumn of 2006, alongside 52 existing episodes on BBC channels until 2010. New to the show will be the action-packed cartoon segments that will take Basil where he’s never been before, including online, digital channels and hand-held devices.

TOMCAT, on the other hand, is more accustomed to the rock n roll lifestyle as it provides custom sets to touring bands such as U2 and The Rolling Stones, as well as their standard range of trussing products.

Paul Jordan, Technical Manager of TOMCAT UK , said: “Essentially what we’ve done in consultation with The Maidstone TV Studios team is provided a rock n roll solution for a TV Studio. Maidstone TV Studios new Studio 5 is a very impressive, high-tech site, but it needed an equally high-tech solution to the problem of permanent rigging and hoists.”

Each TOMCAT truss grid is supported by four electric chain hoists with a capacity of 500kgs, each equipped with double brake system. Moreover, the entire hoist installation is operated via a 16 way radio remote control system. This means the operator can stand anywhere and fly up to four grids wirelessly.